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A Clockwork Origin
"A Clockwork Origin" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama. It aired on Comedy Central on August 12, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth leaves Earth after being frustrated by anti-evolutionists' belief in "Creaturism", a form of Creationism. He and the Planet Express crew arrive at a lifeless planet and the Professor introduces nanobots into the environment. The nanobots rapidly begin evolving into mechanical organisms, allowing the crew to witness a whole new evolutionary history that unfolds before their eyes. The episode was written by Dan Vebber and directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill and received mostly mixed reviews from critics. Plot Professor Farnsworth finds himself arguing with Dr. Banjo, a hyper-intelligent orangutan who believes in "Creaturism", a form of creationism. In an attempt to prove evolution did occur, the Professor excavates the lost missing link, which Dr. Banjo depicts as Homo farnsworth anachronistically riding a Stegosaurus in an attempt to support his Creaturist beliefs. The Professor becomes fed up and resolves to leave Earth. He takes the rest of the crew with him to an abandoned planet to live in solitude. After Professor inserts nanobots into the nearby pond to clean the water, the nanobots evolve rapidly into flora and fauna. Robotic versions of an Elasmosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex attack the crew, but a solar flare short circuits the dinosaur robots, causing a mass extinction of every robot creature except for "small mammalian robots" that were hiding in caves, including Bender. The next day, the crew wakes up to find both Leela and Amy kidnapped by caveman-like robots, but the following day, they find that Leela and Amy are free, because the robot cavemen have since evolved into a completely civilized, modern robot society. The Professor states that he is proud of the nanobots' growth after he dumped their ancestors in a pond a few days ago. The robots, who believe unquestioningly in robot evolution, are angered by Farnsworth, when he shows a picture of a robot (Bender) riding a robotic Stegosaurus at the start of their creation. Bender represents him in court and in his arguments, states that the Professor is not arguing against evolution, but only claims a small role in beginning it by providing the materials necessary (the nanobots). He also tries to declare the Professor insane. The following day, the robots have now evolved into a state of incorporeal transcendent higher consciousness. They are no longer concerned with the Professor any more, finding corporeal beings altogether irrelevant, and sends the crew home. The Professor and Dr. Banjo reconcile their differences. Dr. Banjo argues that what the Professor witnessed was evolution, but evolution set in motion by an intelligent creator. The Professor agrees that it is possible, however unlikely that Earth evolution was set in motion the same way. Category:Futurama (season 6) episodes Category:2010 American television episodes Category:Intelligent design parodies Category:Evolution in popular culture Category:Nanotechnology in fiction Category:Hive minds in fiction Category:Self-replicating machines in fiction Category:Extinction in fiction